Like A Rolling Stone
by ArisMoriendi
Summary: Post BDM. The crew of Serenity find it hard to make a living after the events of Miranda, and they soon discover why. What begins as a seemingly simple job with Badger leads them on altogether new and frightening quest. River and Jayne POV centric. Rayne.
1. Chapter 1

**Series Title: **Like A Rolling Stone

**Chapter Title: **Can't You Hear Me Knocking?

**Chapter Number: **One

**Genre: **Adventure/Romance/Drama

**Pairing: **River/Jayne, Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoe/Wash, Book/God (Yes, dead characters are still relevant…)

**Timeline: **Post BDM.

**Rating: **PG (Series will range from PG to potentially NC-17)

**Disclaimer: **Whedon's world, my manipulation…

**Summary: **Four months after Miranda, River, the new pilot of Serenity, discovers an unlikely presence aboard the ship. She wants to hide from it, so she delves into the minds of her crew mates…

**Author's Note: **Chapter is River-centric. Not sure yet if the story will switch perspectives or not. And this series is centered on and going to be eventual River/Jayne. Hey, isn't the chase _almost_ more fun than the catch?

- - -

**Can't You Hear Me Knocking?**

"Please God, make me a stone…" River moaned, shuddering and collapsing onto her knees. She was hugging her chest and her eyes burned. She was seeing the Reavers again. Except this time, their bellies were purple.

"He already has," a deep and gentle voice spoke out to her.

"Then why don't these dreams stop? A stone does not have a mind, a brain from which to experience a series of involuntary images and sensations-" she said, stopping herself short as he came forward.

Sheppard Book stepped out from the shadows. The world was black and white. The girl stopped seeing in color when he came. The highlights were stark. Very white. And the shadows were deep. Very black.

Where they were she could not say.

Irrelevant. Indescribable.

"You have become one sense your escape. Rolling along, picking up the pieces of those around you. Yet still on your own. Still rolling, even when you should have stopped. Do you know where your home is?" he asked her.

She shook her head no…but began to think of a logical and rational answer to such a seemingly easy question.

"Do not think about it. A home does not require hesitation," Book said.

River didn't know what to say. Her mind felt empty as she tried to bring to words what her home was.

"Do you remember what the Captain told you about piloting?" the Sheppard asked her.

She nodded.

"Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse...but you take a boat in the air that you don't love…she'll shake you off just as sure as the turn of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down…tells you she's hurting before she keels. Makes her a-"

But before River could finish, word for word, what Mal had told her when she first grabbed Serenity's reigns, the world vanished.

…

_Varoom…Varoom…Varoom…Varoom_

The calm hum of the ship during the artificial night aboard Serenity lulled River into a meditative trance upon awakening from sleep. Curled up in the pilot's chair, with her knees against her chest and her feet perched flatly on the seat, she allowed her head to fall back to the headrest. Feeling the weight of her skull atop her cervical spine, she slowly began counting the mass in pounds of her entire head.

"1…2…3…" she said aloud quietly, as if trying to hide it from someone else in the room.

But there wasn't a single person on the bridge.

At least, that's what she thought.

However, something kept itching on the surface of her skin, making it prickly and causing the fine hairs on her arms and back to stretch away, standing on end.

She interrupted her own counting involuntarily.

"Someone's here…" came forth from her mouth.

Opening her eyes, the dark brown pupils danced in unison to the left, and then slowly moved to the far right, her body staying completely still. Sighing, River patiently began to place her feet to the floor below.

"It's not okay to hide…" she spoke aloud again, unintentionally.

"What's that _mei-mei_?" Simon asked, as he quietly slipped into the room.

River turned her head slightly at his voice, wondering if it was his presence that she had sensed.

"No, someone else is here too…" her thoughts escaped her lips.

"Uhhmmm…I don't see anyone…if there's somebody else in here you'd think I would…" the doctor's voice trailed off. River sensed that he was catching himself again, forgetting that some of his sister's strange behavior still existed within her even after Miranda. That thought of his was interrupted with the real reason he had come aboard the bridge. She knew what he was going to say but she waited for him to do it himself.

"River, have you seen Kaylee? I thought maybe she was here fixing…something…I can't seem to find her…and-" Simon began.

"She's in the showers, replacing the grease with the soap. The water's temperature is high in relation to the crew's overall preference, turning her skin pink but she likes it that way. More comfortable that way. Her thoughts are even warmer than the sheet of hydrogen and oxygen particles racing across her skin…" River paused, her head tilted to the side and her lips parted slightly, exposing only a few of her top rowed teeth.

She shut her eyes and could sense Simon's curiosity as he listened in on River tapping into Kaylee's mind.

Then her eyes flew open and a grin spread across her cheeks. They turned bright red, and River dared not to spin the chair around and physically suggest to Simon where Kaylee's mind was wandering.

But perhaps she underestimated his intuition and how well he could read River without psychic powers.

"I…uhhh…think I know where this is going…" he began to turn around towards the hatch to leave.

"River?" he inquired in the frame of the doorway.

She removed herself from Kaylee's increasingly dirty mind to listen to Simon wholeheartedly.

"I'm glad that you're up here. I'm…glad that Mal made you our pilot. It just…makes me feel…I'm not sure I know how to say this but…"

She swiveled the seat so she was facing him. Not wanting to read his mind, she waited for him to reveal to her what he was going to say, even though it would take her mere seconds to read him and find the truth that words couldn't accurately convey.

"I feel done," he finally blurted after a few attempts at other words. "Done isn't the right word for it, but after all we've been through…it's just like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. It's like we're really a part of this crew now…" he finished, smiling back at her.

"My job is finished, and yours has just started," he said.

She reciprocated with a smile just as warm and genuine as his. She loved to see her brother's face in such a way. If it were possible to make it permanent, River would make it so.

Breaking their locked gazes, Simon turned his face toward the ground and slowly began to turn away. She watched him as he left the bridge and stepped down the stairs into the narrow hallway that led to the galley.

River turned the chair back around and closed her eyes again. It was late in the artificial night, but everyone on Serenity seemed to be awake.

Before the incident on Miranda, River could never voluntarily read minds and receive clear thoughts. That only worked on occasion back then, but she soon discovered that after killing all those Reavers, a certain clarity dawned upon her. She had promised herself not to abuse this ability much, as it could land her in troubles unforeseen. After all, things were troubling enough with her and people nowadays without reading their minds.

But she wanted to keep her mind away from that lingering presence that hung around the bridge…

So, she tightened her eyelids.

Listening in, River's mind immediately snapped into Zoe's head.

The first mate was alone in her bunk, sitting on the only double bed on the ship (not counting Inara's). She was folding up clothing and putting it in a trunk.

Wash's shirts…

River suddenly felt a stinging sensation in her forehead. It carried down her face and focused in on her eyes. It was too much. Too much pain and she had to force her eyes open. From the corner of each of them, a single stream of tears fell. She quickly wiped them away. If pain were a brute force, she thought, Zoe's could kill the entire crew.

River decided that she would leave the woman alone. She was a solitary person, very private and to read her mind felt like a decimation of her character.

Moving her mind out of the room, it streamed down the hallway and into the cargo bay. From there it wafted across the scaffolding and flashed into Inara's shuttle.

The companion was pacing back and forth in her quarters. Thinking heavy thoughts. But they were fast and racing through her mind, giving River a headache. Something about Mal, of course, but these weren't the general thoughts she seemed to always have on the captain. They were frantic, but reserved. Worried, but relieved. Upset, yet excited.

"What had happened?" River wondered to herself.

And then, the psychic could see through Inara's eyes. The woman was holding a syringe that was held within a delicate box. She quickly pulled the lid off of it and pulled it out.

River ran herself out of the companions mind.

No needles. No more. She couldn't handle the sight of them. And although she would often be injected by them from Simon for treatment, she did that mostly out of favor for him.

They still hurt though, she thought. Regardless of whose hands they were in.

Moving away, River mentally entered the galley. There were two people in there. Drinking and cleaning guns. The scent of gun oil filtered through River's nose and she twinged at it. Guns. Almost as bad as needles.

"So," Jayne began, after taking a swig of whiskey. "They definitely stayin' on board?"

River knew he was referring to Simon and her. She also knew that Jayne knew the answer to that question. But the merc enjoyed pestering Mal about it regardless. Plus, the man always played up his edge. Had to stay rough and tough.

"Yup…" Mal replied. His tone suggested annoyance, but he also made it sound like a parent telling a child. The captain liked to bite back.

"It's been four months now Jayne. How's about you stop askin' the same gorram questions?" Mal continued.

Jayne just snickered and continued cleaning his weapons. Sometimes their conversations seemed like an old habit, she mused. Going through the motions, not really paying much attention to words or phrases.

"Ya know, I ain't a ruttin' gene-yes," Jayne started. Mal immediately scoffed at that statement, as if his gun-for-hire was hitting on some kind of news.

Jayne lifted his eyes for a moment to watch Mal as the browncoat poured himself another shot and continued cleaning.

"As I was sayin'…Bin four months now since Miranda. You know as well as I that the news we broadcasted from Mr. Universes' hub ain't sittin' right with 'em Rim an' Core folk alike," Jayne said.

"Yup…" Mal responded in the same tone he used before.

Jayne slammed down his gun cartridge.

"Gorramit Mal, what in the hell is a small ship like ours gonna do come the next big damn war?" Jayne asked, rather seriously.

Mal stopped and looked up. One of his eyebrows dipped, feigning deep contemplation.

"Hmm…you know Jayne…" Mal stuck a hand under his chin.

River knew he was pushing the merc's tolerance. There was a dramatic pause before the captain continued.

"The same gorram thing," he finished.

Jayne sighed in relief. Then he began to chuckle.

"What in the 'Verse are you laughin' bout?" Mal asked with a smile.

They were quite drunk, River thought. Else their intolerances and bickering wouldn't be so easily brushed to the side.

"Fer a minute there I thought ya'd say we were gonna fight a war or somethin'" Jayne continued to chuckle as he said that.

Mal then put everything down. The mercenary noticed this and looked up. An uncomfortably serious look overcome Mal's countenance.

"Wut? Say somethin' wrong?" Jayne inquired.

"No…" Mal's head turned to the right. "It's what_ I_ did say…"

Jayne's face twitched into his thinking mask, River noted. The man always did put on that expression when he wanted others to think he was thinking. Generally, it was used just so someone would hurry on and explain themselves to him.

"The same gorram thing…" Mal quietly muttered again as he stood up and walked towards one of the lockers.

"We're landing on Persephone tomorrow…or rather it would be today in six hours," Mal said, noting that he was up way past artificial midnight. "Badger's got us a job. Ya'll will protest when you find out what for, but I ain't listenin'. There's hardly a decent job here in the 'Verse, now with the Alliance suppression and all…"

River left the conversation to think on this. The captain was right. Ever since Miranda, the tension was so thick amongst the planets and colonies that the Alliance was cracking down on its citizens, taking away certain rights that some thought were impossible to not have. The Alliance presence was remarkably strong even on border worlds. They were trying, hoping to stop any and all rebellions since the signal was sent from Mr. Universes' home. They had immediately launched a campaign to turn Miranda into a myth. Damage control, as Zoe once put it.

"Mal, that _go se_ planet is crawlin' with the Alliance. No way we're gonna step foot without causin' trouble," Jayne whined.

He was right, River thought. The crew of Serenity technically did not exist, as the government's almost daily propaganda stated. They didn't exist, Miranda did not exist, and Reavers were the boogey men that hid in children's closets…

"We can get to Badger and back without trouble," Mal said.

"How?" Jayne loudly demanded.

"You'll see…" the captain stated, turning back around to collect his guns.

"If this involves you wearin' that pretty flower bonnet, I just dun think that'll-" Jayne began.

"Go to bed Jayne," Mal ordered. "I don't pay you to plan, I don't pay you to think, I don't pay you to talk."

The merc was hitting on Mal's last nerve. This coincidentally meant the whiskey was wearing off too.

Jayne ignored him and reached for the alcohol to take another shot. Mal grabbed his arm in mid reach.

"Six hours Jayne. That 'nough time to sober up?" Mal's free hand grabbed the bottle.

Jayne grumbled and started putting his guns back together.

Mal began to leave the room with the whiskey.

He stopped at the doorway.

"I need to know," he began. Turning around, the captain continued. "I need to know that your loyalty is with mine and me and no one else. I imagine you'll be tempted in ways something fierce to turn on us if'n means better money, or as you'll soon learn once we're planetside, better security. 'Cause these next few weeks, months, or even years ain't gonna be what it used to be."

River suddenly wanted to enter Mal's mind deeper and find out just what he truly meant. What could possibly be so bad that Jayne will want to betray them for safety over money?

Turning her mind back to the two, she listened in on Jayne's response.

…

Nothing.

Mal angrily turned around and left.

"…right…" was all the captain muttered.

_Veep Veep!_

River awoke from her mind reading. The cortex was beeping. She turned the chair to the left and flipped a switch. It was an announcement. More propaganda?

As she waited for the information to load, she looked out at Persephone in the front windows. They were on the dark side of the planet, moving closer and closer to the sunrise.

Then a face appeared abruptly on the screen. She looked back to the left. It was hers. That same damn picture taken back at the Academy. Blue-ish tone of light. Hair greasy and sticking to the scalp. Big brown eyes trying to absorb the camera man. Dark circles rounding the eyes, making the white orbs appear to be projecting from her face.

Removing herself from her own face, she looked across the screen to read what the news meant. Her fist tightened on the arm chair. The Alliance still wanted her. Only now the demand as to how was unequivocal.

"Wanted: Dead," she said aloud monotonously.

And the bounty.

It was beyond amazing in monetary value. Priceless could almost be the term for it. Even the rich could see a reason for fulfilling this government request.

But did the government really have this kind of capital to expend?

River was about to turn off the cortex and snuggle up in the chair, hoping to sleep before they would hit atmo, but a twang of curiosity hit her. Where was Simon's warrant?

She entered his name on the keyboard and nothing popped up. What about Mal? Nothing.

That's right, she thought. They did not exist. But why her?

"It's unimportant," a familiar voice said to her.

Gasping, she flew around in her chair and jumped to her feet.

- - - - -


	2. Chapter 2

**Series Title: **Like A Rolling Stone  
**Chapter Title: **Tumbling Dice  
**Chapter Number: **Two  
**Genre: **Adventure/Romance/Drama  
**Pairing: **River/Jayne, Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoe/Wash, Book/God (Yes, dead characters are still relevant…)  
**Timeline: **Post BDM.  
**Rating: **PG-13 (Series will range from PG to potentially NC-17)  
**Disclaimer: **Whedon's world, my manipulation… Series and Chapter Title courtesy of the Rolling Stones  
**Summary: **It's a very special day.  
**Author's Note: **Hope no one minds a slow progression of the Rayne love. (_Choo _**_fay wuh suh leh _****means "over my dead body" and ****_fay-fay duh pee-yen _****means "a babboon's asscrack")**

- - -

**Tumbling Dice**

"Never has been important. Not for four years. Enough time to ensure habit. Close to becoming fact," River muttered rapidly out of fear. She was standing beside the chair, chest heaving in fright. Her head hung slightly down with the hair forming a curtain to shield her. Sometimes that was all she had to hide in…especially back at the Academy…

"No, no! Not that! I'm talking about the warrant! Now your birthday. That…That is important!" he gleamed, with one finger pointing up into the air.

"I can see it now! A beautiful…oh and very, very delicious cake surrounded by a wealth of somewhat beautiful people," he joked, raising both of his eyebrows in speculation as to who was beautiful and who was merely, "somewhat."

River just stood there, watching in fascination.

"Oh!" The man jumped, becoming all sorts of excited. His shoulders hunched and his hands closed in on each other as if rubbing them together helped him think.

"And the games and the drinking. The presents, the light and positive discord!"

His excitement was so high; River's eyes widened and were quickly becoming enraptured by him.

"Well…" the man sighed, looking around with a new expression of melancholy and nostalgia. "Too bad I'm dead."

River couldn't help but chuckle. Even in spirit the man had a sense of humor that could lighten the most serious of situations.

"Wash…" she began.

His face snapped in her direction.

"How did you know it was my birthday?"

"Because I'm an all powerful, ever-present, all knowing God. I read minds quicker than the 'verses' number one genius and Mr. top-three-percent! I can summon leagues of-" his dramatic climatic speech ended abruptly when River turned away from him and switched off the cortex.

"Ah come on! I'm dead. You can't ignore me!" he whined.

"Not ignoring. We are hitting atmo sooner than expected. Doing what you would," she finished.

"Ah," Wash said. "Of course."

The ghostly visage of the former pilot of Serenity sat down in the co-pilots chair.

After situating herself down in what was formerly Wash's chair, and adjusting a few controls, she looked to her left at him. He didn't look like ghosts all the books talked about. His form was clear as day, as if he was really there. The blond man was wearing his reddish brown jumpsuit with a tacky orange and white Hawaiian button down over it. His face was staring intensely into space, watching as the atmosphere lit up the front of the ship.

"I never tire of watching this, you know," he sighed, cupping his face into his hand as he leaned forward.

Remembering the pain she had felt from entering Zoe's mind, River spoke to Wash.

"You should be with your wife."

"Would if I could. Actually, I am almost all the time, but she doesn't see me," his face never turned away from the front of the ship. "I'm waiting for her, you know. Not in that morbid, spirit floating around a person, waiting for their death kinda thing…but I'm not leaving this world without her. Besides, have you seen those legs?"

River smiled, "I think she's waiting for you too."

"Yeah…that's what I'm kinda afraid of. I don't want her to be wasting away her time because I'm not here," he said, his face finally turning to her. "That's why you need to celebrate your birthday!"

River's faced gestured into that of a "huh?" She couldn't read a spirit's mind, and so she was completely at the mercy of his words.

"Celebrate! Have fun. Be merry! Zoe needs it just as much as you. Hell, everyone on board could. Tell Mal that this is your special day, and I swear c**_hoo fay wuh suh leh_****, no pun intended, that he'll let you out on Persephone, with everybody else, for some good times. Yeah? ****_Yeah_****?" Wash's eyebrows waggled up and down.**

** River sat back. She had to take a moment to consider his words. Remembering that Mal was warning Jayne, of all people, of some serious danger dirtside, she didn't know if Wash's proposition would be possible.**

** Her lips slightly pouted as she made her decision. There might be some tough words exchanged soon.**

** "Promise?" she asked.**

** "Promise," he replied.**

** "River," Mal called out from the corridor. "How we doing in atmo? And how long until touchdown?"**

** River continued looking at Wash, of whom Mal obviously could not see. The former pilot nodded his head in support.**

** "Serenity's drift through atmo is satisfactory and we'll be planetside in 3 hours. I have a special request," she immediately proclaimed.**

** "Oh yeah? Let's hear it," Mal sounded unusually kind.**

** "It's my 18****th**** birthday. I'll be going shopping on Persephone with the rest of the Serenity crew, you included, and we're going to the city, not just the Eavesdown Docks. There's a massive grocery outlet where we'll procure all the necessary implements for a rousing and raucous celebration on my behalf," she said.**

** "Oh will we?" Mal inquired, sounding somewhat peeved.**

** "Yes," she replied.**

** Wash gave her a thumbs up.**

** "Okay," Mal responded, turning around and leaving.**

** And with that, Wash disappeared. **

- - -

"Alright everyone," Mal started, standing in the cargo bay between the main door and the rest of his crew. "This'll be a quick trip to the tri-plex, mind you, that you are required to stay on the second level in the grocers section to pick up any goods with the money you have. Nobody goes wanderin' off on their own. Luckily, these fanciful rich areas of Persephone are the least guarded, you can thank the Alliance later, and thank River now for turnin' eighteen so I can have an excuse for getting' in trouble and havin' fun. Just kiddin' 'bout the trouble. Now, let's be on our way."

He turned around and hit the switch to open the cargo bay doors.

"This is so exciting!" Kaylee stammered, her arm hooked in with Simon's. "I get to make a real cake!"

"And I…get to help!?" Simon jokingly put, knowing how terrible he was at everything but healing people.

"Wait now, who's turnin' eighteen?" Jayne asked, honestly confused.

"That would your favorite person," Inara sarcastically remarked as she passed him and moved her way toward Mal.

"River," Zoe quickly explained.

"Is she now?" Jayne lasciviously asked, a sly grin spreading on his face.

The first mate elbowed him in jest and started forward.

"Ow! C'mon Zo, weren't nuttin' but a joke!" he said, startled by the sharpness in her jab.

"Didn't I say to stay together?" Mal shouted from down off the ramp.

Zoe chuckled to herself as Jayne grumbled a few Chinese insults. River followed the group in the back, with a heavy, brown hooded sweater over a purple knee-length dress. She pulled the hood over her face, remembering that warrant from last night.

- - - -

They had all made their way into the grocer's complex on the second level. It was a massive and gorgeous place for food supplies, River thought. The place was lined in windows, encompassing everything in clear and crisp white light. The floors were made of high quality white marble, and the shelving was stainless steel.

As she passed along looking down each aisle, she stopped at the baking section. Kaylee was piling flour and sugar bags into her arms and trotting over to Simon, who was holding their basket and reading the label of some boxed item. He had a troubled look on his face. An odd ingredient, he found.

River remembered that she shouldn't be reading his mind. Or anyone's for that matter, but it wasn't like she was successful at that for the past few days. And besides, she was an observer. Someone who enjoyed watching from the distance the actions and manners of others. It was a behavior she had learned aboard Serenity when everyone else kept their distance during her less than lucid days.

She continued on walking, taking each step with consideration.

She paused a few rows down. Zoe, Inara, and Mal were huddled together. They weren't in a food aisle, and seemed to be giggling and laughing uncontrollably at something being held between the three. River was curious, as she usually was, and wanted to jump in and find out what was so exciting. But she stopped herself. She had an inkling some kind of surprise was in order.

So she moved on. Until she reached the end of the store. She found herself in front of a massive window. She placed her hands against. It was concave, bulging outwards about half a foot, so that if one leaned, they could see straight down. And below, about 30 feet she calculated, was the concrete surface of the city. Her eyes widened as she leaned forward. Slowly, slowly her face inched towards the window. Her heels peeled off the floor and her nose pressed against the glass pane.

"Hey moonie, what in the seven hells ya doin?" Jayne asked from behind her. She quickly spun around on her feet and faced him.

The man had his back to her and was surveying the wall of alcohol.

"I mean, not that I give **_fay-fay duh pee-yen._**** I jus' wanna make sure ya ain't gonna go all crazy and decide on takin' out every person in this here store. Most importantly, me," he muttered the last sentence.**

** River ignored the insult and walked up behind him. She liked to spook him, keeping up her crazy act. Hell, the man was almost an open invitation to hi-jinks seeing how gullible and dumb he was. **

** "Are you going to supply the disorderly and feral environment to which we will rejoice?" she asked.**

** Jayne turned his head slightly at her. **

** "If your askin' me if'n I'm gonna make ya'll drunker than all them patrons of Canton, then yes," he replied. "Now shouldn't ya go…and…be a thorn up yer brother's ass or somethin'?" **

** "Later," she said nonchalantly. "Right now I need to acquire the necessary information as to how to properly become…"**

** "Sauced?" Jayne asked.**

** River scrunched her nose and tried to think if that was the right word.**

** "Well," Jayne began, almost as if he was as knowledgeable on this topic as his weapons and killing. "I'm assumin' you've never had a lick of alky in yer life, so yer prolly a beer and a half drunk. I'm pickin' up this fruity red stuff that Kaylee seems ta like 'cause she's tiny and can't really handle the big stuff. Plus, she's all kinds of crazy over sweet things."**

** Jayned walked further down the aisle and River followed slowly behind.**

** "Now this," he said, grabbing a brown bottle in his hands. It had a copper tone to it. River began to note as Jayne held it in his hand how his muscles flexed as his grip tightened. There was a particular vein that popped out more than the others and River felt inclined to reach out and grab it.**

** "This is 160 proof Straight Whisky. That's 80 percent alcohol. Aged for over 2 years in charred new oak. Ain't it a beauty," the man nearly whispered the last part.**

** As he held it before him, River could see his reflection against the glass bottle.**

** "Yes…it is…" her voice trailed out quietly.**

** Her eyes were locked on his face in the bottle and her mouth was gaping open. It took her a moment to realize that the face in the bottle had moved and was now looking at her. She quickly turned her head to face him. He was looking down at her with that certain angry-confused look he generally wore.**

** "Now, don't think you'll be gettin' yer Core hands on this. Better stick with Kaylee and that wussy brother of yers to polish off the fruitified stuff." **

** And with that, Jayne walked away. But River's mind didn't. It stuck on him. For whatever reason, River was searching for something within the mercenary that she wasn't even sure she had. She delved through every file, every memory, every current thought within his head, hoping her name or face would pop up in there.**

** And when it didn't, she sighed, bit her lower lip and pouted. If Simon saw her in this moment, he could definitely tell what was going on.**

** The now eighteen year old genius wasn't getting her way.**

**- - - -**

**"Alright, alright! It was good. I….uhhh…I enjoyed it…" Zoe managed to say. She was seldom one to dote on words, specially if they weren't 'tween her and her former husband, so she put her hands up in defeat as Kaylee collected the plate in front of her.**

** "Well, we're all just glad to see ya smilin'. And that goes for all of you too. Don't think just Zoe's getting' the special treatment," the mechanic said.**

** "Yeah, I know who's getting' the special treatment tonite!" Jayne threw in, a mouthful of strawberry cake.**

** This time, instead of getting all uncomfortable and angry, Mal just broke out in laughter. Simon sunk his face in his hands and everyone else joined in with the captain. **

** Jayne, pleased with how the night was going, quickly jumped up from the table and ran over to his locker. River stopped laughing and watched him.**

** "As much fun as it is sittin' with the lot of ya and munching on Kaylee's-"**

"Ah Ah Ah! No Jayne!" Mal cut in rather quickly, with a goofy smile on his face.

"I was jus gonna say cake, Mal!" the mercenary conceded, holding his arms out in innocence.

The rest of the table broke out in laughter and it was Kaylee who was now putting her face in her hands.

"Anyway, let's get the real shenanigans started, shall we?" Jayne asked, pulling out the whiskey and two bottles of wine.

"Ah yes!" Mal proclaimed. He reached deep into his pockets and pulled out four dies. This, River mused, must've been what the three had crowded around at the store.

"Yes, alcohol and gambling. Such a mutually beneficial relationship," Inara noted with a hint of sarcasm.

"Kinda like you on my here boat?" Mal asked.

"Well," Inara began, but was cut off.

"Ya see, I'd be the strong drink," Mal jokingly flexed one of his arms and Zoe, chuckling, reached one of her arms out to set his down. "And you'd be the gamble!"

"Oh yeah?" Inara questioned. "And what kind of gamble would I be?"

Mal made a sound that was a mixture of a forced laugh and a sexually assertive coo.

"Hey now!" Jayne raised his voice. "Let's wait till we're piss drunk to be saying this kinda stuff!"

And with that, the drinking and the games began. There were simple gambling games, none of it involving money, and all of it involving chores, as the captain made a note of it to not create unnecessary animosity between the crew. And as they played with the dies, tumbling them across the table, taking shots when chores were no longer available, it was obvious to River just how drunk everyone at the table was. Including herself. She decided to stand up so she could better understand the effect of the alcohol.

As she stumbled to her feet, Simon, who was sitting next to her, reached an arm out and smiled.

"_Mei-mei,_ I think maybe you need some water," a loopy grin hung across his face and his eyes never could make contact with hers. It seemed more like the man was speaking for himself.

River nodded and slowly walked over to the sink. Her balance was off and she uncharacteristically sloppily drew a glass of water.

"Well," Mal began. "Look at the time." He hadn't bothered to check himself, and was using the statement to infer that the games were up and he wanted to sleep. Inara had already gotten that clue, as she clung to his shoulder, slouching with her eyes closed.

"Better escort our ambassador to her sleeping quarters," Mal mocked.

"Oh…" the companion started, eyes opening. "What a…drunken gentleman."

Zoe decided to use the moment to excuse herself as well. "Yep, well. I've heard and seen too many strange things for one night."

It was her way of saying that she enjoyed everything and was grateful for the occasion.

River took another mouthful of water.

"Ah c'mon, ya'll actin' like yer drunk er sumethin'" Kaylee barely mustered to say. Her eyelids hung heavy and droopy.

"Ya know, Kaylee," Simon started to sound more like Rim people when he drank. "I've got a "special treatment" that can cure such a mis-perception!"

And that was all it took to get the engineer out of her chair and headed for the…engine room, River noted. Her brother followed on the girl's heels.

"Pah-thet-hick!" Jayne yelled as everyone filed out. The man had betted and lost one too many rounds, gaining more chores than he would've liked. Amazingly, he still figured he had a chance to win and rid himself of all of them.

"Gorramit!" he muttered, looking down at all the activities he would spend doing this week.

"How's a 'bout you take this here half of my earnings 'cause ya never have to go on jobs and do every ruttin' physical labor under the sun? Oh wait, you dun have ta 'cause yer crazy!" Jayne rolled his head round his neck, popping out a few kinks.

"That's not how you're gonna bribe me to do your chores," she muttered to herself. It was getting rather irksome at how often Jayne called her crazy. Like a younger kid who learns a new word and never stops saying it, even out of context.

"Oh really? An jus how do ya convince crazy?"

River took a moment to gauge how drunk he was. And when she entered his mind and saw his eyes lazily running up and down her body, she figured he was pretty far off. He never spent so much time looking at her.

She walked over to Jayne, once nearly losing her balance. But when she finally made it, she sat herself on the table right in front of him. Looking down at the mercenary, she leaned back. Her left knee popped up as she stuck the foot down right in front of his crotch, flat on the seat of the chair, between his legs.

He spread his thighs apart at the gesture. Looking down at her foot and then back up at her face.

"Watch it there, girlie. I know ya dun believe in my man parts, but I got 'em and wanna keep 'em."

"Irrelevant. Watch," she instructed, grabbing his copper toned bottle of whiskey.

"Hey now!" he whined. "Is mine!"

"A proper bribe begins with one member wanting what the other member has. Case in point, the whisky."

River popped open the bottle and took a swig. She didn't so much as flinch.

"Ey! Didn't I say ya couldn't have any of the grownup stuff?" he asked.

"Pay attention," she said. "Now that I have what you want, I propose a deal in which both of us would be rewarded. You will get your whisky back, and I will get what I want. Thus, a bribe."

"Mmm…'kay," Jayne said, looking to each side. "What do ya want?"

"I didn't get a single present for my birthday, even though Wash promised me one," the girl said.

Jayne gave her an incredulous look.

"Didn't answer my question, crazy."

"Copper for a kiss."

- - - - - -


	3. Chapter 3

**Series Title: **Like A Rolling Stone  
**Chapter Title: **Jumpin' Jack Flash  
**Chapter Number: **Three  
**Genre: **Adventure/Romance/Drama  
**Pairing: **River/Jayne, Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoe/Wash, Book/God (Yes, dead characters are still relevant…)  
**Timeline: **Post BDM.  
**Rating: **R (Series will range from PG to potentially NC-17)  
**Disclaimer: **Whedon's world, my manipulation… Series and Chapter Title courtesy of the Rolling Stones  
**Summary: **A haggard and hungover crew pays an irate Badger a visit.  
**Author's Note: **Thought things were getting too cheery? I apologize in advance for how I slaughter the English language for the sake of Badger's cockney accent.

- - -

**Jumpin' Jack Flash**

"Okay…well…" Mal grumbled, shielding his face from the light. He was sitting at the table in the kitchen, hunched over in his seat. "Damn…"

"I ain't complainin'" Jayne said, leaning back in his chair and making a note of it to every other person in the room that his tolerance of alcohol was clearly superior.

"Sir," Zoe began, walking into the galley. "River says we'll be in the Eavesdown Docks in less than five minutes."

"Uh huh…" Mal muttered.

"Sir?" Zoe asked.

"What?" the captain angrily inquired.

"Plan?" the woman retorted.

"Oh yeah," he said. And with that Mal stood up and looked around. Kaylee was making coffee and Simon was sitting next to Jayne, fiddling with his thumbs. As noted by her absence, Inara was still asleep in her quarters.

"The plan is, we go to Badger's fancy hat den, and then we exit said den, and then…return to Serenity!" Mal happily triumphed, able to finish the sentence.

"Them docks are crawlin' with yer favorite bedfella's Mal. We gonna just waltz through there clear as day?" Jayne questioned.

"No, I didn't have dancin' in mind, but you're right. That's why we are going to wear these," Mal stated. Lifting his hands up, he realized the necessary items were not there. "Right…to the cargo bay!"

And with that, the captain took off.

He quickly returned, sticking his head out through the door and nodded, motioning everyone to follow.

"I ain't wearin' nuthin' that makes me less than a man!" Jayne called out as they entered the large room.

"Don't worry Jayne," Simon said, curiously following even though he knew he wasn't going along. "A mere change of clothing isn't what'll do that to you."

The mercenary ignored the doctor's jest and quickly went down the stairs.

Standing there, beside an open metal crate was River, wearing the items Mal was talking about. A huge draping beige hooded poncho hung over her shoulders and concealed her dress. Her black boots were still visible, and she wore her favorite goggles over her face. A brown scarf wrapped delicately around her neck and up to her nose, hiding half of her face. She looked liked something out of a sci-fi movie.

"Albatross? Didn't think I gave you permission to wear these things…" Mal said.

"Didn't," River responded.

"Then how come…" the captain began.

"You need me," the psychic said.

That caused Mal to catch his tongue and stammer.

Jayne grumbled and turned away. River glanced quickly over at him, remembering the night before. When she had proposed to him that he should exchange a kiss for his whisky to be returned, Jayne had gotten angry. There was ferocity deep within his blue eyes that she hadn't expected. It startled her and made her blood boil, in a surprisingly good way. But when he abruptly stood up, pushing the chair back and causing her to lose her balance on the table, her request began to feel out of the question.

"No," he had said. Then he had leaned in and grabbed her chin with one of his hands, pulling her face close to his. He had clenched so hard that River felt her capillaries bursting beneath his vice.

"Don't push me," he had quietly growled at her, through clenched teeth. And with that, the mercenary turned away and left her.

The girl still had his whisky bottle.

. . .

"River," Zoe broke her thought. "As the pilot, it's your job to stay aboard Serenity."

"But you need me," she protested.

"We need you on the ship," the first mate stated.

"Why?" River asked, knowing that this question would irk the woman of few words.

"Because…" Zoe started. Her eyes turned down and her head gently lowered. Then her head snapped back up. "That's where he would be."

River, knowing she was referring to Wash, responded.

"He is."

- - -

"Mal, I dun know why yer bringing her along! She'll just cause a world of trouble!" Jayne angrily whispered as they weaved in and out of people. "Re-member the Maidenhead?"

Jayne was walking closely along Mal. The mercenary was wearing the same guise he had at Canton. Mal had a long brown coat with a drapey hood and billowy sleeves. Just like the druids wore from Earth-That-Was.

Zoe, who was walking at the other side, was wearing a form fitting black trench coat and matching black fedora. She was watching River who was walking ahead of them.

"Jayne, listen. I ain't happy 'bout this either, but she should be able to tell us when there's trouble. Re-member the bank heist?" Mal mocked Jayne's tone in the last remark.

The mercenary moved away from him and watched the young woman. She seemed to have a skip in her step as she passed along people.

When they finally entered Badger's official room of business, the four crew members waited patiently for the small man to speak. He was sitting at his desk, chair spun around away from them, but his arm was cranking away, peeling a new green apple.

"Yuh late," the man said.

"Oh, this again?" Mal remarked.

"Now, I wouldn't go 'round gettin' an offishal like me angry!" Badger dryly responded, still at his chair. "If yuh could'ent tell, there's plent-eh a purple offishals outside waitin'…waitin' for a rumble!"

"Here for the job, Badger. Not lookin' for trouble," Mal said.

"Right," the man said as he spun the chair around. He stopped immediately when he saw River.

"Oh lookie here. Yuh brought me my favorit' gurl!"

"Well, that…uhh…wasn't the intention…" Mal stuttered, unsure of what Badger was talking about. Jayne and Zoe just smirked.

"How ya doin' love? How's dis slimy browncoat treatin' ya?"

"Betuh then a thief suchin' yaself wud!" she reciprocated. Badger only grinned back at her. He adjusted his hat in a vainly manner. As if primping in front of her.

"Ere now, let's see tat love-leh face uh yers," Badger continued, suggesting to River to remove the goggles.

Jayne cleared his throat in an obvious and loud manner.

"Here for the job, Badger," Mal cut in, agreeing with the impatient merc. He glanced sharply at River for egging the man on.

"Fine then. Mabbe latuh then," he said. "Yes well. The job. See here, iffen ya hav-ent noticed, the Alliance is stakin' out every gorram place in the 'verse. Makin' me job a trite more difficult ya could say. Plent-eh a respectable client ain't got 'nuff coin that's worth smugglin' anything that'll jus land in 'em 'Liance hands."

"Yep," Mal said. "Same as ever."

"No," Badger paused, turning his head to the side but still looking at Mal. "It ain't."

"An that's why I got me a terri-bleh clientell. Nevuh wanted to deal with 'em folks but I ain't got much a choice now. Any idea as to whom I'm talkin' bout?"

"Nope…" Mal muttered, getting a little impatient.

"Huh, well 'tis right 'neath ya nose."

Mal looked down and then back up. A grave expression crossed his face.

"Yeah, 'em browncoats," Badger walked forward. "Only now, they ain't teh same ol' Independents ov before. Rebels now. Unduhground movement. Larguh den before. Mo' money, mo' people, and deh only gorram job I've got on me plate."

"Can we start gettin' more 'spific, fore I let my ruttin' tetchy trigger finger scratch that itch?" Jayne angrily stated.

Mal lifted his arm, meaning for him to back off.

River could sense a growing energy in the room. A rising tension, but she couldn't tell if it was wafting in from outside or merely growing in here. A problem of having been experimented on. Precise discernment wasn't always available.

"Yeah, well, let's get down ta business," Badger said, turning away. He grabbed a piece of paper and handed it to Mal. The plan in writing. "Ya see, I got me sum goods in Osiris, in dem blackout zones. Waitin' fer ya grubby hands to transport ta Shadow."

Mal swallowed hard as he heard that. A trip to a Core planet would be risky, and then a subsequent return to Shadow would be harder. For him at least.

"The Rebels got themselves a gorram base supposedly. Not my business, but it mite become yers. Jus make shure ya get the goods across an come back fer payment. _Dong ma_?"

And just as Badger said that, a loud percussive explosion rang from outside, shaking the earth and almost every one and thing inside the den.

Everyone in the room save for Badger jumped and became startled. It was like he was used to this.

"Now then. I think that's yer cue."

His guards walked up to each crew member, hurriedly escorting them out. As they followed the narrow corridor to the outdoor markets, Zoe turned to Mal.

"Sir?" she asked.

Mal just lifted his shoulders in uncertainty.

River's heart was racing and subsequently that meant her mind was too. Panic. Fear. Death. Smoke. Blood. Screaming. These thoughts pummeled her head like a ten ton brick. One after the other.

As they stepped outside, all four of their heads turned to the right. Down the road was smoke everywhere. People were stepping outside of it, running and screaming. Their faces were blasted with dust, and some of them, blood.

"_Wo de ma…_" Mal whispered.

River screamed and stumbled back. Mal caught her. He noticed that Alliance soldiers were all heading in their direction.

"Whut in the hell is goin' on?" Jayne demanded.

"I don't know…" Mal whispered again, his voice unavailable at the moment.

"Sir, we need to get back to Serenity," Zoe said as calmly as she could.

But none of them moved. All their eyes were fixed on the smoke. They weren't certain of what had blown to bits, or who had done it.

"Couldn't be Alliance, could it?" Jayne asked, hugging his gun.

As they continued to watch, a woman was dragging herself out of the miasmic cloud of dust. She was reaching one arm out towards nobody in particular, her mouth hanging open in pain and fear. Her eyes were rolling into the back of her head, exposing the whites. Streams of blood laced all around her.

"_Wo shang mei er, mei xin, bian shi tou_…no…no…NO!" River screamed, turning around to run.

As she did, the crawling woman's entire body emerged from the chaos. Half of her right leg was missing. A clumpy and ratted end of the stump was trailing a steady stream of blood.

"_Ta ma de_! River! Get back her!" Mal shouted at her, turning around to see her fleeing.

As the captain turned to motion for Jayne and Zoe to follow him after River, he saw Jayne heading towards the smoke and confusion.

"Where in the hell are you goin'?" Mal shouted at him.

"Serenity's that way!" the merc yelled back.

"Yeah! And our gorram pilot went the other way! Now you get your ruttin' ass back here!" he ordered. By now, swarms of people were running past them, making it impossible to see each other clearly.

"Sorry Mal," Jayne began, looking somewhat apologetic. "I ain't followin' crazy."

And the captain and Zoe just stood there, watching, seemingly in slow motion as Jayne backed away and was soon becoming engulfed in the crowd.

Mal began to panic. River might've been long gone now thanks to his gun-for-hire. But who would he go after? Her or Jayne? Both were unpredictable and dangerous persons. But only one of them had a loved one to lose.

He began to take small steps backward, still unsure yet if he was making the right decision. Jayne and him had a history. Things tended to stay par for the course with his merc. Could he let go of such security?

But Mal didn't need to make the decision. Something else would.

Another explosion blasted out from a nearby concession stand. Pieces of wood and other shrapnel flew in all different directions. Mal and Zoe hit the ground, holding their heads. The same heavy smoke hung in the air.

He couldn't hear anything but a sharp and intense ring. Opening his eyes and pushing himself to his feet, Mal stumbled upwards.

"Zoe!" he shouted.

"Here!" she whimpered below him, pushing away a wooden plank that lay across her.

Moving his eyes away from her, he saw all the bodies lying around. Some of them must've been dead, he thought. Some of them just unconscious. Then there was the stench of blood. Iron and gunpowder. Familiar…nostalgic.

"_Cao_," Mal muttered.

Looking further down, he noticed a trail of bodies leading to where Jayne was…

…still standing.

The man was certainly strong. He had his arms wrapped around his head, holding down his cap as he stood his ground. From head to toe he was covered in sand and smoke, and somebody else's blood.

He immediately trudged forward to Mal, putting his hands back to his side. His head hung slightly down and his back was stiff and definite. Arms were rigid and legs took great strides. It was his determined gait.

"Other way's good…" his voice spoke softly. For the first time, Mal could've sworn there was fear in his tone.

The three crew members turned around and started walking at a tight and quick pace in the direction that River went. There were bodies littering the path that they had to carefully maneuver around.

One person reached out and grabbed Jayne's ankle. Quickly glancing down to shake it off, the mercenary was eye to eye with an Alliance soldier that was mortally wounded.

"Gorram…rebels…" was all the injured man could say. Jayne shook his leg and the hand fell limp to the side. The not-so-smart merc was beginning to get a good idea of who was at hand here.

As they passed all the bodies on the ground, the three found themselves caught up in the fleeing crowds. Looking around, there was no possible way they would be able to find River.

"Sir, I don't think that-"

"I know what you're sayin' Zoe. We'll do what we can. Avoid the larger roads, I don't think our genius would stay on one of 'em considering those two explosions. Find a path through the narrow alleyways so we can head back to Serenity," the captain ordered.

"We ain't gonna even look fer her?" Jayne questioned.

Mal gave him a curious glance.

"Well now, we wouldn't have had to had we stayed behind her," the browncoat retorted, turning his shoulders straight at Jayne.

"Just sayin'…" Jayne mumbled, eyes falling to the ground in defeat.

- - -

As they headed back to Serenity, they took careful notice not to accidently bump into a squad of Alliance soldiers, of who were littering nearly every corner of the market. Finally, they found her.

Their ship.

"Kaylee," Mal said over the radio. "Open the doors. We're takin' off."

"Right capt'n."

The cargo bay doors took only a few seconds to fully open. Standing in the middle of the ramp was Simon. His arms were crossed and he had a worried look on his face.

"Kaylee said there was a flurry of Alliance chatter over the com not too long ago, and then River came running in without you guys, all in huff, refusing to say anything. She ran out of my sight before I could find out what was wrong, oh geez, is that blood?" the doctor's voice was fast and worried, and he was eyeing Jayne's green jacket.

"Not mine," he gruffed.

"River…she's here?" Mal inquired.

"Yeah, about ten minutes ago she came in here, and then, ran off behind some boxes over there," Simon pointed to a corner that Mal knew of. It was one of those "troublesome nooks" that some claimed firefly class ships had.

"What's goin' on capt'n?" Kaylee's voice rang over the com.

"You come on down here and found out," Mal responded before angrily rushing to the corner that Simon had pointed out.

"Where are ya, Albatross…" he muttered.

Opening the compartment, he threw down the screen that kept it shut. Squatting on his knees, the captain bent his head to the side and peered in. Two large eyes were staring wildly back at him.

"There was screaming and crying and voices that weren't mine, begging for mercy, hands crawling everywhere. Confusion and fear and I-"

But before River could continue her garbled nonsense, Mal yelled at her.

"We're leavin' now lil witch. Time to get outta there."

By now, everyone, including Kaylee, was crowding behind Mal, watching with curiosity. This River reminded them of the old one. The crazy one.

"Crying…crying everywhere. Swollen brown bellies exploding. Boom!" she chuckled somewhat crazily before quickly returning to her serious and scared voice.

"Red…spilling, raining everywhere..and-and-!"

But Mal cut her off again. This time, his arm reached into the cubby that River was hiding in. He grabbed her right arm and began to physically drag her out.

"No!" she cried out, her face tightening and tears were beginning to form.

And the captain kept on dragging. Out of the nook and onto the metal floor her body moved.

"Get up and fly us out of her," he said angrily, looking deep into her eyes, his grip tighetning. "Don't make me…" he added.

But she just shook her head and her lips began to tremble.

"NOW!" Mal lashed out at her, his voice booming at the top of his lungs. Kaylee and Zoe looked away, as they often did when Mal's anger got the worst of him. Even Jayne winced and turned slightly away. Simon took a step forward, a look of shock overcoming his face.

"River?" her brother said to her worriedly.

River's face snapped in his direction. Her look of pain and fear began to wash away. Slowly, she picked herself up. In doing so, Mal let go of her. The entire room went dead silent.

The only sound that was made was River's boots lightly hitting the floor of the cargo bay, as she took small and careful steps away from the crew and up the stairs, toward the bridge.

- - - - -


	4. Chapter 4

**Series Title: **Like A Rolling Stone  
**Chapter Title: **Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind  
**Chapter Number: **Four  
**Genre: **Adventure/Romance/Drama  
**Pairing: **River/Jayne, Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoe/Wash, Book/God (Yes, dead characters are still relevant…)  
**Timeline: **Post BDM. Thus, spoilers.  
**Rating: **R (Series will range from PG to potentially NC-17)  
**Disclaimer: **Whedon's world, my manipulation… Series and Chapter Title courtesy of the Rolling Stones  
**Summary: **Something new and strange comes along while on their way to Osiris to fulfill Badger's contract…an easy job. Mal can't pass anything up nowadays, but is it really everything that it seems? And River decides to act on a festering thought.  
**Author's Note: **This is over 4500 words. Sorry about that!

- - -

**Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind**

River lay in her bead in the passenger quarters for the first time in many weeks. Usually she snuggled up in the pilot's chair on the bridge, but after what had happened on Persephone, she wanted some alone time.

She was embarrassed. She had let her mind get the best of her again. When Simon had asked her on Miranda if she was okay, after throwing up from viewing the message about the Pax, her reply was simply: "_I'm okay_."

But now she began to question that previous statement after yesterday.

Was she really…"okay?"

Lying in her own bed, she shifted to the right for what seemed to be the eighth time.

"Cannot sleep," she told herself aloud.

Pulling down the sheets, she slinked out of her bed and opened the sliding door. She walked over to the galley. By the amount of light that was allowed to pour in through the ceiling window, she conjectured that it was artificial midday.

And River was still in her nightgown.

"Werkin' hard, huh?" Jayne's voice said to her.

"Cannot sleep," she said again.

"Uhh…yeah…it's the afternoon," was his reply.

"The natural state of bodily rest is not dependent upon the time of-"

"I dun really wanna hear it, _dong ma_?" Jayne cut her off.

River turned her head down and occupied the chair that was across from him. They were the only two people in the room. Where the others were, River was curiously trying to find out.

Inara had been out yesterday. Not out in the sense of completing a job, but out in accordance with the fact that she was sick. Mal was worriedly standing at the side of her bed while she laid in it. He was interrogating her about the needles he had once accidently seen her using. Maybe this had something to do with that time when River entered the companion's mind and found it racing a mile a minute?

"Needles.._ugh_," River spoke.

Jayne lifted an eyebrow.

Her face turned to the right, away from him and her eyes had a faraway look.

Zoe was up at the bridge. They were being hailed by someone from the nearby planet. It was a message that was coming from Triumph.

Kaylee was in the engine room, rewiring a few cables, while Simon kept innocently interrupting her.

River sighed. "If he really wants her, he'd be more lewd."

"Now _what_ in the hell are ya goin' on 'bout?" Jayne set his magazine down and looked at her all confused like.

She smiled back at him, realizing what she had said aloud was really something she wanted to imply towards the mercenary.

She sighed again. "I'm bored."

"What? Is readin' minds a gorram travesty?" he realized what she was doing.

"No," she said, placing her hands in her lap and sitting up straight.

"Hell, if I could do it, it would be a 24/7 mind readin' field day for Mister Jayne Cobb," he said while picking up the article again.

"Mister Jayne Cobb." River said the words in unison with him. It was evident she was reading his mind to do this. And that's where Jayne made the exception.

"Gorramit, crazy. Ya always got ta ruin everythin." He slammed down the magazine and crossed his arms.

"Not true," she said.

"Oh yeah?" he responded.

She leaned forward, her hair hanging and touching the table.

"Wanna know what was on Inara's mind during her latest job?" River stated deviously. A mischievous grin spread across her face. That got his attention. Leaning forward, he narrowed his eyes.

Whispering he said, "Hell yeah!"

Before she began, River put a finger up to her mouth, motioning utter silence. Then she licked her lips and spread them apart ever so delicately. She noticed his eyes suddenly became entranced with her mouth, locking on, and she began to wonder what was intriguing him more; her lips or Inara's business.

"Three days ago, she did something uncharacteristic of even her own standards," River began.

"Yeah?" Jayne leaned in closer.

River stopped and grinned. She wondered whether to make this truthful or not. She decided on the latter.

"She allowed a client to watch her while she touched herself."

Suddenly, Jayne's jaw dropped. And slowly, ever so slowly, a bigger grin crossed his mouth.

"And…?" he wanted to know more.

"And…she has this thing that straps around her waist, and when she flips the switch-"

But before River could continue on, Zoe stepped in.

"Gorramit, Zoe, You always got ta ruin everythin!" Jayne whined.

Zoe gave him a look of satisfaction before she spoke. "Ya seen the captain?"

"With Inara," River answered.

"River, we need you on the bridge. Making landfall on Triumph within four hours," the first mate said before turning to Jayne.

"I'll be in my bunk," the mercenary stated, turning around after collecting his magazine.

River crossed her arms and pouted. Maybe that wasn't the way she would enter Jayne's circle. But why did she want to anyway? The man betrayed her twice, cared for nothing but himself, and if she was truly being honest and realistic, probably wasn't totally clean down there with all the whoring he would partake in. Once again, she had to ask herself: was she really "okay?" Where was the attraction in the mercenary coming from?

Just then, a thought crossed her mind. She still had something of his. Perhaps today she would get another excuse to talk with him.

River had set the course for Triumph, went back to her real bed, set the alarm for two hours, and crawled under the sheets hoping one last time that she could get a wink of shut eye. Mal had told her something about an "all-nighter" and that he wanted his crew rested, regardless of whether they were going to be on the job or not.

With her back against the mattress, her arms perfectly at her sides, her legs extended straight and sitting neatly next to one another, River closed her eyes. Something about this position lulled her into a fast sleep…usually. Now there didn't seem a chance in the 'verse it would work.

Sighing, she leaned up and opened a drawer underneath her bed. Within it, was Jayne's whisky.

Pulling it out, she inspected the bottle. Copper, three-fourths inch thick glass lining. Plastic screw top. Faux wax seal. Traditional outer label with inscription in the style of Earth-That-Was.

Undoing the top, she took a swig.

Her throat tightened and her mouth wanted to retch. But before she allowed the jerking reaction, she swallowed hard, savored the burn, and subsequently coughed.

This stuff was stronger when she wasn't inebriated. She told herself to remember that effect of alcohol, as she took another swig.

And another.

When she could no longer stand the flinching from each taste, she set the bottle down on the nightstand. Finally, she felt it as she leaned backwards…successful restfulness…

- - -

She was running…running through a field of tall grass. The wind was blowing into her face, offering some resistance, but nothing could stop her. That was how they made her…that's how they tried to make her…she couldn't remember if they succeeded or not.

Some days she felt completely useless, causing more trouble than she was worth. Other days she triumphed over how she didn't succumb to what they wanted.

They…

Why did she still think of them? Why did the blue hands still rupture her tranquil mind?

The sun was beating against her skin, making the pores open and the sweat ease out. Sweltering heat. It continued to rush at her like waves in an ocean. Just a biological response, she thought.

The sun had tried, but nothing could stop her.

The grass wrapped around her thin, muscular legs. But her pace broke free, shredding the stubborn blades. The green tried, but nothing could stop her.

The wear of her own muscles began to fatigue her body, spreading into her mind, into her thoughts. Too tired, she thought. But she shook it off, ignoring them. Her body tried, but nothing could stop her.

And then she heard it. Another set of feet running behind her. Another mouth gasping for air. Turning her head slightly, she saw him coming.

He was gaining pace. For all the bulk he possessed, his cardio was on par. And then, as he was right behind her, she smiled. Eventually, when she summoned enough air, she broke her lips apart and laughed.

But he didn't reciprocate. There was a sense of determination in his blue eyes. River wanted to run away, to keep the chase up, to keep smiling, but his arm reached out.

He grabbed her sweater that was flailing behind her.

But she kept going. The mercenary tried, but nothing could…

- - -

River's eyes opened lazily from her rest. The alarm hadn't gone off, for if it had, she would've jumped up from her bed.

Lifting her chest in a sigh, she brought it slowly back down. Why did she have to dream about him? It only made things harder. As if her sub-conscious was way ahead of reality, trying to turn something that wasn't there into truth.

A smile crept across her face. Well, she thought. If she couldn't have him, at least she could pretend.

"I knew it! I ruttin' knew it!" a gruff but quiet voice said.

And with that, River jumped, unable to temper the gasp of shock, she yelped out loud.

The mercenary returned, faltering on his feet.

"Gorramit, I thought ya were 'sleepin!" he claimed, holding his whisky in his hand.

"Was," she responded.

"Yeah…well I can see ya've helped yerself to what's mine," his voice sounded coarse.

River nodded matter-of-factly.

"Great, first ya take my guns, now ya drink my booze. Tryin' to git me in trouble?" Jayne asked.

River shook her head matter-of-factly.

Suddenly, there were footsteps coming in from the hallway. They led straight to the door and stopped in the way. It was Simon.

He first looked at his sister, then glanced at Jayne. And then at the alcohol. A moment of silence cut the air.

"Should I even have to ask what's going on? Why is my sister in bed next to an angry ape man with whisky? Do you two see what's completely wrong with this?" the doctor questioned.

"No," River immediately replied, but her voice was too soft and drowned out by Jayne's response.

"I was just here takin' back what yer lil' thief took. Might wanna check her, doc. She might be…" And then he put on a sarcastically solemn tone. "…hi-leigh intoxicated…"

River giggled at Jayne's attempt at big words.

"What!?" Simon stammered, looking at her worriedly by the way she laughed at his explanation. That meant she was not trying to disprove it.

"See here," Jayne began pointing at a level on the bottle. "It was up to this point before crazy. And now," moving his fingers down to show another level, "it's right here."

And with that, Simon turned around, beginning to walk away.

"I'll be back," he said.

There was another awkward moment of silence before she turned to the older man.

"You trying to get me in trouble?" River asked the merc.

He gave her a look. "Uhh…yeah!"

Then he left.

"River," Mal stepped in almost right after Jayne left. "Simon said you were drinkin?"

"Needed to sleep," she replied. Her brother walked in, moved around Mal and stood at her side.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked his sister.

She looked up at it. A syringe. In it, a yellow tonic full of the precise mixture and amount of vitamins, minerals, and various other drugs to cure any hangover.

"I don't consent," was all the eighteen year old said.

"You don't have a choice," Mal stated in the doorway. "Doc, hurry up and finish here."

"Right."

River stuck her tongue out at him as she usually did when she was consciously being administered drugs. Needles. Hate the needles. To distract herself from the feeling of them, she looked deep into Simon's mind. Apparently, she discovered, he hadn't distracted Kaylee enough from her work to sex her up.

What a boob, she thought. How could anyone _not_ do that? Kaylee was the breathing, walking, speaking avatar of sex, River had always imagined. And only someone like Simon couldn't wrangle what he already got.

"If only you fornicated with Kaylee as often as you inject me with needles, we'd have a whole nursery on our hands," she told him.

"Ignoring that!" Mal called out from the hallway.

"River," Simon started seriously, in no mood for her strange behavior. "Please stay out of trouble."

She quickly realized why he had such a worried look on his face. It was the same one he gave her yesterday, when Mal had to openly reprimand her.

The girl only nodded and glanced down away from him. She didn't want to be reminded.

She watched with a hidden stare as Mal and Simon exchanged a few quiet words. Reading them could have easily told her what they didn't want her to hear, but she decided against it. Had a bad feeling.

When Simon left, Mal stepped forward.

"Walk with me," the captain ordered.

River slipped out of the bed and grabbed a blanket to wrap around her. She was still drunk, as noted by her attempt to walk a straight line, but Mal grabbed one arm and steadied her as they moved through the passenger quarters, to the common area, past the infirmary, and into the cargo room.

"What happened yesterday?" his voice was humorless and solemn.

"A tornado," she replied.

"Really?" Mal asked, becoming slightly incensed.

"Confusion and chaos multiplies. The nature of the beast. What embodies the fevered minds of the dying, quickly, involuntarily become my own. Didn't mean to get so upset," the girl explained.

"I see…" Mal started, sounding more emphatic. "The whole, mind readin' thing, huh?"

River nodded.

"Kay, well, if I'm gonna be takin' you on jobs, I need a lil' more sane River and not the other. Don't go runnin' off, don't defy my orders, and please, for the love of Book's friend, don't make me have to choose between crew mates, _dong ma?_"

That part stunned River. What in the 'verse did he mean by "choosing between crew mates"? As she dove herself into his mind, she saw Mal, standing in the Eavesdown Docks. Zoe was next to him, and Jayne was walking away. Fear, trepidation…then an explosion.

Her body jolted with the memory. This reaction led to Mal gripping both her shoulders.

"And please, don't ever drink before we go on a job. I'm not interested in findin' out what a potentially bloodthirstin' drunk psychic can do. Now, let's keep movin'"

She nodded again, though her mind kept seeing Jayne walking away, further and further into the crowds. It frightened her to see him get swallowed up. All those people…

Her head felt dizzy. Probably just the alcohol though, she thought.

"Now, I need you up on the bridge. We'll be landing on Triumph soon, and I don't plan on crashin' as a way of makin' it," the captain remarked.

River nodded and turned away.

"Oh, and another thing."

She stopped.

"As much as Zoe and Jayne protested, you'll be coming along on the job. Some rich folk acquisitioned themselves a mansion on that there uncivilized of a planet. We're getting paid heavy to do some light work. House sittin' the owner put it. Now, I know from experience that an easy job just ain't never what it is: easy. So you'll be there for us, expectin' trouble and ready and willin' to let us know when it's coming, _dong ma?_"

"Yes," she replied. She felt the excitement of having a second chance.

"Good," his voice sounded almost cheery.

- - -

The crew of Serenity split up once they landed on Triumph. Jayne, Mal, Zoe, and River were to go on the job and house sit at a rich estate in the midst of some backwater countryside. Simon had to stay on board, as Inara was still sick, and Kaylee, obviously siding to her man, stayed aboard to run the bridge.

The four had taken the mule out to reach the mansion that lay deep within a forest, carefully navigating to make special care they didn't leave a hint of a trail between their job and Serenity.

Zoe and River were sitting in the front, and Jayne and Mal in the back.

"So Mal," the gun-for-hire began. "How long you know this guy?"

"I had a drink with him," the captain answered.

"Oh yeah?" Jayne questioned.

"Yeah. Once. Two years ago."

"So we're house sittin' fer a stranger. Dun even know wut the hell we're gettin' into?" the man kept pestering Mal.

"Pays a lot," Mal tried to keep thing short.

"Wutever, at least I brought my grenades," Jayne muttered.

Mal turned to the side and gave the man an incredulous look. Zoe sighed, shaking her head side to side and River turned her head back inquisitively.

"Listen, come sunshine, we leave the estate, handing over the keys and receiving our pay. What's the worst that can happen?" Mal said toward everyone.

"That it's all a trap and we get brutally murdered then robbed to the core," River's morbid side took over.

"As long as it's in that order, I ain't lettin' anyone near Vera without my permission," Jayne added.

- - -

When they finally reached the gates to the mansion, Mal stepped off the mule and went over to a keypad. He quickly punched in a code and the force field drew down. Climbing back on, Zoe steered their way over to a garage that encased several other hovercrafts.

"Gorram rich folk," Jayne mumbled. "Be more worth our while if we jus loot the ruttin' place and leave while we can."

"No," Mal warned. "No looting. At least, not without my permission," he grinned.

As they stepped out of the garage to follow the dirt path to the front of the house, River took in the view. Not quite like the homes on Osiris, she mused, but certainly beautiful. The place was obviously unfinished. The massive lawn that separated the house from the surrounding enclosure was overgrown and trees were still in their places without having been chopped down. A makeshift dirt path led them to the front of the brick and mason house. The door was grand and dark, as most of the place was.

The trees that should have been cleared kept it all dark. Like a massive umbrella.

Mal walked up to the entrance and punched in more numbers into a new keypad. The door jolted, signaling their pass.

"Shiny," Jayne said.

The four entered the home to find it rather, empty. Where one would expect expensive furniture and trivial accoutrements, there was none. A wooden cabinet off to the left for guests to hang their coats, but as Jayne opened that, curious to find something astonishing, there was nothing. He cursed to himself.

River's eyes trailed across the foyer, noting a copper candle chandelier that had no candles on it. Beyond it was the supposed "grand" staircase that was no more thrilling or inspiring than the one she barely remembered at home. This one was wooden, with a faux Persian carpet running down the middle.

She then removed her eyes from the center and saw Mal and Zoe walking forward, the sound of their boots echoing into the dark and empty corners of the ceiling. Zoe, on the left looked down an open archway and turned to them.

"Gathering room," she noted aloud.

Mal, on the right looked down an opposite doorway. "Dining room," he said.

"Kinda empty, huh?" Jayne asked to no one in particular.

For about five more minutes the four guests wandered aimlessly, finding an occasional painting on the wall or cabinet that housed next to nothing.

"Well, the sun's 'bout to set. Might as well take our places and hunker down. I'll take the dinin' room and Zoe will be on the other end, in the uhh…gathering room," Mal instructed. "I want Jayne and River upstairs, one person above me," he pointed a finger to the ceiling. "And one above Zoe."

Jayne took no time in arguing. He swiftly grabbed the duffel bag of weapons that he had brought along and mounted the flight of stairs in a rush. River took the opposite approach, with one careful step in her black leather combat boot after another. She was the only unarmed person keeping watch, but that was only in part due to the "no guns" rule that she exclusively had.

Moving to the right after ascending the staircase, she turned to the hallway and walked down it. There was a window at the end of it, with four doors lining the sides. As noted by the dimming of the light through the glass, the sun was almost set.

She decided to pick a room to stay in for the night, not paying any special attention to which one.

The girl was trying to read the situation, looking to find some clue if there would be danger in the night, but nothing unusual was coming into her mind. 'Course, she was still metabolizing that whisky from earlier. And it had a special way of disrupting her reading abilities.

As she opened one of the doors in the hall, she peered in, seeing nothing but darkness. Her hand nimbly searched for a switch and found one. It turned on a rainbow colored stained glass lamp that was on a dark stained wooden nightstand next to a plain white bed.

She marveled at the decorated and wonderfully tinted lamp. Unexplainable patterns and shapes that could not be quantified, River thought. As juggled and nonsensical as her mind.

Laying herself on the bed, she stared deep into the colors.

- - -

It had been about four hours and River could no longer entertain herself alone on her side of the second floor of the mansion. Not that there was anything in the house that was engaging her thoughts. No, it was the dream from earlier. She couldn't stop thinking about it.

"I can pretend like I'm dreaming," she said aloud, moving out of the room and into the hallway. "Nothing can stop her," she repeated to herself as her dream thoughts had echoed again and again.

Walking carefully to the other side, she sensed his presence and opened the door.

Ever so carefully it swung wide. She slipped in, immediately taking in the smell of smoke through her nasal cavity. It cinged the back of her throat and burned a warming sensation that trailed through to her lungs.

"It's midnight," his rough voice said from a dark corner of the room.

"I know," she returned, moving over to the bed.

The room was completely dark, save for the moonlight that spilled through a single window that Jayne was sitting next to in a shadowy corner. His body was absolutely dark from the waist up, while his legs were spread wide with knees bent and feet placed flatly on the floor, basking in the blue-ish white light from a nearby moon that hung heavy in the sky.

In his right hand she could see the silhouette of the whisky bottle. A burning cigar was in the other, and it rested against the armrest in the wooden chair he was situated in. She watched him as he moved, either bringing the whisky or the cigar up to his mouth. When it was the cigar, the red ember glowed as his breathed puffed against it, illuminating the whiskers around his mouth. When the whisky was raised, she could hear the popping sound as his lips were hastily removed from the glass opening.

Slowly her eyes trailed over to the bed. She wanted time to think. Had to formulate a plan, but needed the right signs before she acted.

Looking down the bed, she noted a line of weapons. Black forms of knives, two shotguns, a belt loaded with grenades, three pistols, two semi-automatic and one fully automatic gun. Then there was Vera.

The Reader considered for a moment whether or not to wait for him to speak. Surprisingly though, there was nothing coming out of his mouth. No protesting, no complaints. A good start.

She walked over to the moonlight, standing between him in his chair, and the bed. Her olive-beige dress was hitched at the center of her thighs, and it drew closer to her hips as she sat down between two guns.

River parted her legs innocently, tensing her feet as the toes skimmed the wooden floor. She closed her eyes and listened to her heart beat. It was strong, thudding against her chest so hard, she thought it might crack her ribs and pour forth her red metallic liquid.

"What was this feeling?" she wondered.

As he puffed his stogie for the fifth time since she entered the room, River took a deep breath. Her lips curled deviously at the sides as the strong and alluring scent of alcohol was carried with the grey haze. He was drunk, so maybe she could push him.

Gradually, one vertebra at a time, she rolled her back against the mattress. Her body sunk almost no heavier than the weight of all the guns combined, and she lifted her arms up and over her head, letting them fall back on the soft white blanket and rest. Bending the elbows, her hands moved into her hair and she wrapped a single finger along a curly piece of hair, dragging it out against the bed.

She closed her eyes and entered his mind. In doing so, his thoughts were broadcasted loud and clear: pure lust. Almost purer than the prized whisky he held in his ever tightening grasp.

Time for a push.

River gently raised her right leg a hair, so that her entire appendage was resting on the tip of her big toe. This caused her dress to open more, exposing the other side of the room to a hint of her underwear.

She heard Jayne try to stifle a groan as he shifted in his chair.

Deciding to do it again, River put her right leg down and lifted the other. But this time, she contorted her torso, writhing against the blanket along his guns. Her left side grazed the handle of a shotgun and she gasped quietly as the cold steel cooled her now rising temperature.

She was still in his mind and enjoying every minute of it. His eyes were darting to and fro, up and down her twisting body, always returning to the small amount of white cloth that peeked under her dress and between her legs.

As she shared her mind with his, so were his sensations and feelings becoming a part of her own. Immediately the muscles between her legs contracted, shooting an unknown and never before experienced awareness up into her gut, making her belly seize and undulate in such a way that she couldn't control.

Jayne groaned again, and she heard him set the bottle of whisky down. He didn't want to be so drunk that he would forget this, she read from his mind.

And then an image flashed from his thoughts, sinking quickly into her visible intellect.

It was an image of her, naked against the mattress, and with Vera resting across her chest.

That had to count for something, she thought.

To return such a positive thought, River dragged her right hand down the bed, stopping at the hem of her dress. She tightened her grip on it, allowing wrinkles to form so he saw clearly what was happening.

But before moving further, she stopped herself.

Jayne leaned slightly forward.

"Tell me 'nother one of 'em 'Nara stories," his husky voice growled through tightly sealed teeth.

- - - - - - - -


	5. Chapter 5

**Series Title: **Like A Rolling Stone  
**Chapter Title: **Midnight Rambler  
**Chapter Number: **Five  
**Genre: **Adventure/Romance/Drama  
**Pairing: **River/Jayne, Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoe/Wash, Book/God  
**Timeline: **Post BDM. Thus, spoilers.  
**Rating: **NC-17  
**Disclaimer: **Whedon's world, my manipulation… Series and Chapter Title courtesy of the Rolling Stones  
**Summary: **River feeds the mercenary's lust, not realizing what type of beast she is letting out of the cage. And the real reason for the house sitting becomes known.  
**Author's Note: **This whole job was originally meant to be one chapter. But look how I drag this out!

- - -

**Midnight Rambler**

River opened her eyes wide. She gasped at his request, feeling both hesitation and an unnerving amount of excitement. Should she really do this? What was she getting into?

Taking a moment to think, she pulled the same hand that was holding the hem of her dress up, exposing completely her pale right thigh. Some eye candy for him while she decided on how she was going to handle this.

Tilting her head slightly up, she dragged her eyes downward to peer at him. She still couldn't see above his waist, not that it mattered. There was an obvious bulge between his legs that was stretching his tan cargo pants. It was the tight pair, she noted.

There didn't seem to be a chance in the 'verse she could back down now. Jayne would be upset. John Thomas, as he affectionately called it, would be even more so.

So she closed her eyes again, and delved this time, deep within her own mind. Try to find something, she told herself. Try to find something fast. A story, an image, a sensation, anything. She needed to get a pointer from something she picked up from Inara to get the ball rolling, as nerves were being to take over.

And when that happened, all control could be lost.

"What did 'Nara wear 'round her waist?" Jayne broke the silence, groggily trying to speed up this process.

"No, no, no, no…" River thought to herself. This was something that was made up. She had known back in the galley that Zoe would interrupt that story, so she considered lying a good way to grab his attention. But now, it was just weaving a large web that would be hard to detach from.

And then as her heart felt like it couldn't beat any fast and harder, her lips broke their tight clench and she spoke, something unidentifiable taking over.

"I've got something better than that," River's hand dragged across her waist, the fingers pushing into her dress and skin.

Jayne huffed in intrigue and she could hear him lean back again.

"Inara had a client 2 months, 3 days, five hours-" she cut herself off, realizing that the way she was talking was not necessarily alluring.

"He was tall, brown hair, and blue eyes," River paused, recognizing how inappropriately similar these basic features were that Jayne and the man had shared.

Perhaps this would be harder than she originally inferred.

"Lean muscles," she said, feeling better after that. She resolved that to tell Jayne a true story might get her in trouble with the companion. The mercenary wasn't someone you could really trust with secrets. So regardless now, she would have to make something up.

"She undressed herself from a nearly translucent floral patterned silk robe, revealing her stark nakedness. She stood above him; he was still sitting at the tea table. Her nipples perk and dark, her body slick with oil that smelled of white lotus."

River's toes curled and her body contorted again. She could feel her own nipples harden at the thoughts that became words.

"The companion moved towards him, drawing a hand around the base of his neck, stroking slowly, allowing the movements to lull his head upwards towards her center, between her legs."

Jayne shifted again and drew a heavy breath. Moments later smoke came flowing over River's body. She squirmed in response, unknowingly spreading her legs further apart.

"The man didn't take long to take her lips into his mouth, sliding his tongue down the middle and dragging sharply along her clit…"

River stopped again. For a moment her rational self took over, hearing the dirty sounds coming out of her mouth. 'Stop' was all it wanted say.

But the feeling that now rested between her legs begged otherwise.

"Don't stop," Jayne moaned as if reading her mind. There was more passion and lust in his tone than ever before. She peered back down again briefly, wondering why he had changed.

Seeing his hand gripped around the bulge in his pants, she dropped her head back quickly and decided to continue talking, both to please him and to distract her from that sight.

"She knows when the end is coming, so she yanks the man's head back, gripping his hair between her fingers. His tongue catches one last taste of ecstasy before she lets go and turns her body completely around."

"He can only see her backside now, which makes her moan in delight. It is always that side of her that seems the most sinful, the most…kinky…"

River's voice was becoming more and more sultry. She usually had such an innocent and playful intonation, that it was rare and startling both to her and Jayne that she was sounding so rich with sensuality.

"Yeah…" Jayne breathed from across the way, with utmost satisfaction as to where he was thinking this was going.

"Inara slowly lowers herself onto the man's cross legged sitting position, deftly reaching around and grasping his cock, guiding it between her folds. She squats over him after taking him in, and leans forward with both her hands on the floor, anchoring her weight as she moves in slow motion, up and down…and up and down…"

River's voice softens.

"Up…and down…"

It's becoming trance like, she realized. Lulling her own body away from it all, as if the voice was somebody else's, completely designed for and wanting to get her off.

Jayne panted louder than ever, and River returned the sound with a moan that escaped from the lowest point of her torso, offering her a momentary release of satisfaction that was boiling in her lap.

Her body was uncontrollably twisting side to side, occasionally nudging a gun and her legs were wider than ever. Her dress was in turn completely at her hips, and the edge of the fabric was skirting past her white underwear on her right side.

She noted a feeling of dampness and a contraction that led to more wetness.

River wanted badly to see what Jayne was doing, but she was afraid she wouldn't be able to bear it. The truth of the situation. The fact that she was using Inara as a tool to give Jayne pleasure. Not that the man hadn't done such a thing before.

But what hurt the most was that all his passion and desire wasn't being solely derived from her. She just felt like a messenger…

And so her feelings overtook her and she couldn't carry this on much longer. River quickly wrapped the story up, trying to ignore every sound that came from Jayne as she neared the end. It was as explicit as the beginning, and the mercenary seemed please.

But she wasn't.

Bringing herself up slowly from the bed, River stared deep into the dark figure that sat across from her. He was no longer gripping himself, and had a cigar in his right hand. The girl began to search for some thoughts from him.

Did he want to touch and satisfy his still hardened lust? Of course he would, she thought. But did the touching involve her?

River stood up. She walked over to him and stood between his knees. He jumped slightly at her closeness, and the whites of his eyes were now visible with better proximity. The man was staring straight into her eyes.

Digging through his cortex, she found only the visuals of Inara fading to some nameless whore he visited once on a moon long ago. Blonde hair, big brown eyes, and an hourglass figure being formed by a tight cinching corset. Nothing like her.

Sighing, she grabbed his cigar and brought it to her lips. She puffed harshly, smoke enclosing his face.

"No," she thought. "He will not be wanting her tonight."

And with that, River walked out of the room, hearing the sound of a pant's zipper being undone. She then moved faster down the hallway, and returned to her area. Sitting back down on the bed next to the stained glass lamp, she rested her elbows on her knees and cupped her face in her hands.

Feelings of guilt and shame came over her, and she knew that any normal girl would start crying to herself, releasing the frustrations to momentarily relieve the upset. But she wasn't a normal girl, and she did what she always did: think.

And thinking never brought any consolation. River felt an emotion growing tenfold that had carried with her ever since the Academy's experiments began. Utter isolation.

Not the kind of isolation you feel when everyone's too busy to pay you heed. Not the kind that overcomes you when you're alone in a room. No, this kind could be felt in a crowd of a thousand people.

Emotional isolation. A fault of hers from being perceived as crazy by Serenity's crew. Even her brother owned this against her.

Lost in her own thoughts, she barely heard the gunshot that rang out from across the way. It was Jayne.

"Jayne?" Mal asked over the four-way handheld radios that they had brought along. River listened in.

"Saw something out in the woods," was the matter-of-fact reply.

"What was it?" the captain's voice was elevating in irritation even over the static of the radio.

"I dunno."

"And you just, shot it?"

There was a pause.

"Yeah…?"

"_Wo de ma…_alright, River, Jayne, get down here," Mal ordered.

As the two of them hurried down towards the dining room, Zoe caught them halfway.

"I saw something too. It went around to Mal's side," the first mate explained.

Mal was hunched next to a window, gun drawn. He glanced at the three who entered the room.

"Just saw a few black silhouettes approaching along the side here. I think they're movin' towards the back of the house. Follow me and stay low. I know it's night 'n all, but don't let anythin' see you."

The three followed Mal to the back of the house. They went through a grand, albeit empty, kitchen, before leaving that and entering another gathering room, grander than the one Zoe was in. It had a massive fireplace and large windows that immediately exposed them to the outside.

Thinking quickly, all four ducked behind a piece of furniture. River was almost flat to the ground along a coffee table, Jayne and Mal picked a large couch to kneel behind, and Zoe was standing upright against a white column support.

"Ya know, Mal, my guns are upstairs!" Jayne whispered.

"Uh huh, and all these _things_ seem to be runnin' towards this here area!" Mal snapped.

Suddenly, a large and guttural one-note moaning came from outside. Everyone paused and looked up, holding their breaths as they listened.

_Ooooorrroooooo…._

Once it finally stopped, there was complete silence.

"Sir?" Zoe asked.

Mal just shook his head in confusion.

"Sounded kinda like a horn," the first mate said.

"Sounded kinda like a monster too!" Jayne's voice was sounding like it did when he talked about Reavers.

"It's code," River calmly put in.

Mal was about to press her for more of an explanation, but a mass of black figures emerged from behind different trees and began to creep closer. They weaved in and out of cover, hiding behind some overgrown brush or other object that was indistinguishable at night.

"Kinda feelin' like shootin' first and askin' later," Jayne grumbled, still sounding scared.

"Oh, like before?" Mal said spitefully.

"There's treasure!" River's voice perked up, sounding excited.

Jayne jumped in fright from the sound, grabbing his chest in shock. Mal and Zoe shot each other bewildered expressions.

"_Ta ma de!_" the merc groaned.

Right as Zoe was about to ask for a plan, there was a crashing sound coming from the dining room.

"Jayne, River, get upstairs! Zoe, follow me!" Mal ordered hastily, as they all moved quickly from their positions.

The reader took a route that avoided having to deal with whatever was in the dining room. Her adrenaline was flowing and she couldn't stop to find out what was going on. All she knew was that there were thoughts of greed and want circulating the air. Something special was in this house.

Jayne was following her on her heels, and for a moment she felt like the dream she had was somewhat foreshadowing. Except, when she glanced back at his face, there was no determination for her. He wasn't even looking at her.

They split at the top of the stairs, and River ran over to the window at the end of the hall to look out. Nothing. So she moved on back to her room.

She heard Jayne curse aloud as another gunshot came from his room. Then there were two from downstairs. Her head started to fill with excitement. But it wasn't hers.

These things…whatever they were, were feeding her an intense adrenaline that she felt was hard to shut off. Becoming giddy, she allowed herself to laugh loudly, venting the foreign sensations.

And whilst she was, the sound of glass shattering came through from the window outside the door to her room.

Her body immediately shut down and fell silent. She craned her head slowly towards the interference.

"The influx," she whispered to herself.

Her legs began carrying her towards the door. With one surge of energy from her hips, she jolted her right leg forward, stomping down against the wooden door, sending it flailing open violently.

It hit the intruder, throwing it to the floor.

"Just a man…?" her voice spoke aloud.

Just a man it seemed. Though something was different. She immediately distinguished that his anatomy was not altogether human. There was something bizarre in the way his body lay on the floor. The shoulders were broader and pointier. The back was arched in a significant hunch. The flesh that was barely exposed was incredibly pale. More so than her. And he was wearing all black, with goggles that glowed slightly green around the eyes. Night vision. She joked to herself about how the man must think he has the upper hand with such a device. But a telepathic mind wins over anything 98.976% of the time, she clarified to herself.

She stood above him, waiting for him to bring himself back up. When he did, she could see a flash of blood coming out of his face. Apparently the edge of the door knocked him square on the outermost edge of his left cheek, tearing the flesh harshly across.

"_You bit-_" but before he could finish the insult, she dug her four fingers into his open mouth, silencing his words. Her hand gripped unsympathetically onto his jaw, with her thumb hooking underneath, pressing upwards. Leisurely, she began to force an innumerable amount of weight upon it. The jaw slowly began to bend downwards.

The man grabbed her arm with both his hands, trying to remove her hand as he gagged and struggled against her grasp, but she was as rigid as a brick wall. His body began to move downwards at the same rate that she forced upon his jaw, as if thinking that moving in the direction will stop the pain.

And as his knees were bent at an almost ninety degree angle, there was a snapping sound. She felt his jaw unhinge and crackle. Tendons were tearing and she watched with ever-widening eyes as his rolled into the back of his head before the lids shut.

When his body fell to the floor, the jaw hung parallel to his neck. The tongue was exposed from top to bottom as it fell limp as well.

River stopped and turned, wiping the man's saliva off her hand with her dress.

She then walked over the body and toward Jayne's room. Her sedate gaze met the mercenary's seemingly traumatized eyes as he stood down the way, in the frame of the door. He was looking on at her in shock.

There were no words that seemed appropriate for him to mutter.

Several more gunshots filled the rooms downstairs, drowning out the silence as River and Jayne stared at each other from across their hallways.

When there was complete silence again, she turned her head to the side, expecting his voice.

"Everythin' okay up there?" Mal called out.

More silence.

River turned back to Jayne.

"Answer him," she lightly demanded.

…

"S'fine," he managed, never removing his eyes from hers.

Satisfied, River began walking to the staircase, going down to meet up with Mal and Zoe. She could hear Jayne moving slowly, and at a distance, from behind her.

Upon reaching the others, she smiled at them, ignoring the dead bodies lying around. The captain and first mate were visibly sweating.

"So genius," Mal initiated. "What was that 'bout a treasure?"

- - - - - - -


	6. Chapter 6

**Series Title: **Like A Rolling Stone  
**Chapter Title: **Start Me Up  
**Chapter Number: **Six  
**Genre: **Adventure/Romance/Drama  
**Pairing: **River/Jayne, Simon/Kaylee, Mal/Inara, Zoe/Wash, Book/God  
**Timeline: **Post BDM. Thus, spoilers.  
**Rating: **PG-13  
**Disclaimer: **Whedon's world, my manipulation… Series and Chapter Title courtesy of the Rolling Stones  
**Summary: **Cash flow increase leads to the desire for more…cash flow. River discovers the secret of the estate that sends Serenity's crew hunting for more. And when there's huntin' on the Rim, danger abounds.  
**Author's Note: **This fic may seem totally River-centric at this point, but I am going to include Jayne POV's once I deem it appropriate for the flow of the story. It's just so fun and easy with River, dammit! She can read minds!

**Start Me Up**

"Yeah, but whut the hell were those things, Mal?" Jayne whined as the captain began walking away from him after splitting up the pay with everyone in the galley.

"Does it matter?" Mal stopped and asked.

"What do you mean 'things'?" Kaylee curiously asked.

"Yeah," Simon began. "I mean, the three of us heard some strange sounds coming from the forest, but we-"

"Should just leave it at that," the captain affirmed.

He walked over to the COM line to communicate with the bridge.

"We're ready for takeoff, River."

He turned back to his crew with a smug look on his face. The hum of the engines revving could be heard even from the inside of the ship, and it signified an unspoken end to the conversation.

- - -

"Now that we're all 'bout to become filthy rich, I'd like to know specifically where we are headed," Mal said, entering the bridge and walking up behind River in the pilot's chair.

"Whitefall," she replied.

"So…that's where the real gains are, huh?" the captain continued asking questions. She could hear him rolling up and adjusting the sleeves of his button up shirt.

"Yes. The man we house-sitted for has established several other half-completed estates across the Rim moons and planets, built over the earth to hide top secret Alliance storage bunkers. Most of his money is kept in that precise one, along with what I perceived to be…invaluable stock."

"Excellent," Mal cheerily said, swinging his arms side to side, occasionally bringing them together.

There was a pause in their conversation. River knew about and was waiting for Mal to make his move.

"Well, I better assemble the team up so everythin' goes accordin' to plans," he stated.

"Malcolm," she coolly voiced, adjusting the chair so that she could see him in her peripherals.

"Umm…yeah?"

"This will have to be quick. Badger's contract has yet to be satisfied and I fear some complications might hinder our efficiency in doing so."

"Don't worry 'bout that rat, miss. He'll haggle our pay sum absurdly down no matter how quick or slow we are, so iffen this new plan includes a capital worth hearin' an earful from our big boss man, let's not fret," the captain explained before calling Zoe and Jayne to the deck.

River turned herself back around as she heard the trudge of boots coming their way.

"Where we headed?" Zoe asked.

"Whitefall," Mal said whilst taking a seat in the co-pilot's chair.

"Shiny, we gonna kill Patience?" Jayne eagerly inquired.

"No," Mal started. "I don't fly halfway cross the 'verse to beat an ol' woman and her dignity senseless."

Zoe chuckled and Jayne leaned back, gripping his hands into his belt with a grin on his face.

"However, if worse comes to Patience, I got no policy 'gainst shootin' her," he added.

"I'm rememberin' that," Jayne happily remarked.

Mal ignored him and turned back to River.

The reader suddenly sensed a strong urge of his want to leave and attend to something. It was, unsurprisingly, involving Inara. The woman was feeling better since a few hours ago, and Mal had had her on his thoughts ever since she became bed-ridden.

And River knew what Mal was going to ask, but she answered it ahead of him so he could move along to what was more important.

"We'll be dirtside in 19 hours," River commented.

Mal gave her a look.

"Sorry," she said, with her chin tilting down, further emphasizing the width of her big brown eyes.

Mal stood up and began walking away, mumbling curses to himself. Following him out were both Jayne and Zoe.

When there was complete silence and she was certain she was all alone, River turned downwards and looked at her hand. It was the one she had forced into that man's mouth. There were deep red marks that formed bruises in the crescent shape of his upper row of teeth, where they had sunk into her skin.

Her left hand began to massage the other one and it pained her.

But not as much as the unreciprocated sensations that still lingered between her legs, even after two long hours.

"River!" Kaylee's voice huffed and puffed from the hallway.

"River! Oh River, you gotta get down here!" the mechanic sounded wildly enthusiastic.

"Look at this!" the ever positive young woman squealed, holding two paper stubs. "Simon bought me some tickets to the theaters on Osiris. Got 'em soon as he heard we were headin' there. And he promised dinner. It's gonna be so romantic!"

River smiled back, thinking that maybe her brother hadn't lost all of his game.

Kaylee sighed in contentment and continued: "Well, now don't just sit there like ya don't know what to do! Serenity's lil' genius needs to help me figure out what to wear. You do know your brother well enough, right? You'd know what he'd like to see me in? What in the 'verse would be Core appropriate anyway…?"

River just shrugged and sustained her smile, getting up out of her seat and following the mechanic down into her bunk.

"Well now, I've still got that rufflely dress from Persephone, but I don't think I can sit down in such a thing…" Kaylee joyously remarked, taking her hair down and grabbing a towel to wipe away the grease on her face.

"What do ya think Simon'll like?" she asked River, trying to get the psychic in on the conversation.

River opened a drawer from the woman's dresser and immediately pulled out the dress. It was similarly styled like the one's she wore, slinky and flowing at the bottom, with thin straps and solid colors. It was Kaylee, after all, who gave River most of the clothes she wears now.

"He likes red. A traditionalist," she noted, holding out the red dress to Kaylee.

"Course, I knew that!" the mechanic excitedly stated, taking it from her hands and holding it against her. "Wonder if it still fits…"

"It does…" River noted, turning away and looking off.

"Somethin' the matter, Riv?"

She shook her head, trying to think of something to say to feign normalcy. Her eyes dragged along a cluster of Kaylee's multi-colored lanterns. It reminded her of that wonderful lamp back on Triumph. She immediately became entranced with it, tilting her head to the side with a stern gaze.

"C'mon, I'm practically your sis. You can tell me anything!"

River just continued staring.

"Ya know, if everythin' was okay, ya'd've immediately said no and confusedly questioned why I asked ya!"

"May be true," the girl responded, turning to look at her.

"So…?"

River tilted her head again, as was a habit when she was thinking. Her mouth gaped open slightly, and her eyes darted around as if appealing to the objects in the room.

"When you first felt things for Simon, and he didn't return the affection, how did you cope?" River asked, finally looking at Kaylee.

"Well," Kaylee looked down and crossed her arms. "I did what most other girls do. I kept at it, gossiped to Inara, took my chances and flirted at every 'vailable opportunity. Why?"

And then the engineer's voice became almost hush-hush. "Got a crush on someone, River?"

The reader's cheeks burned and she turned away, allowing a loopy smile to crack on her face.

"Ya do!" Kaylee exclaimed.

"Is that why I'm reacting in such a way?"

"Oh gosh, duh!"

"I wish it to stop," River's voice became more somber, and her pupils hung downwards, looking at nothing particular as an image of Jayne sitting in the corner of the dark room flashed her mind.

"Aww c'mon Riv, don't be sayin' things like that," Kaylee tried comforting her, but with the lack of information, she couldn't really do much. "Ya know, if ya told me more, I could help…"

"Can't," River said.

"That's prolly 'cause you're confused yourself. My biggest advice is, when you think you don't know, you actually do. And I mean that in a good way," Kaylee happily remarked, feeling proud that perhaps she had given the smartest girl in the 'verse some potent advice.

But when River didn't respond back, Kaylee sighed.

"In a good way's good, right?" the mechanic tried to fix the situation.

River turned back to the girl and smiled. "Thank you, Kaylee." She then climbed up the ladder and exited the bunk. She was feeling slightly parched, and figured a quick trip to the galley would suffice. But she had also felt a twinge of disturbance from what Kaylee had said.

"If you think you don't know, you actually do."

It made River's gut twist into a knot, and the sensations soon began vibrating up her belly and straight to her heart. The red pulsing muscle thumped loudly in her chest for a few seconds before returning to normal rhythms.

River was heading down the hallway towards the kitchen area. And when she reached the doorway to enter, one tall, hulking object suddenly appeared in her way. It was Jayne.

She stopped walking at once to avoid bumping into him, and had to take a heavy breath of air to calm the startle in her nerves. Her heart was thudding out of control and the sound was cascading her ear canals, drowning out the hum of the electricity and other quiet environmental noises.

River closed her eyes before deciding to glance up at him, to pretend that she was just passing by and this spontaneous moment had no effect on her.

But her warm brown eyes met the gaze of his icy blue orbs. River's chin quickly sunk back towards her neck, in the hopes that this movement would cause her hair to fall forward and allow her to hide.

She kept her head down, waiting for him to move out of the way. But he wouldn't.

River took another heavy breath, and considered whether to just turn around and avoid this altogether. And right as her head pivoted to the left, his gloved hand reached out and caught her chin in its grasp.

Her body tensed and her eyes widened, locking back on to his.

The two were staring at each other for what felt like eternity to River. His eyes were narrowed, and he seemed to be inspecting first her face, then slowly down to her lips, stopping shortly to continue onward down her neck, to her chest, and the rest of her body.

River's lips parted and she thought she was going to say something, but his grip tightened on her face, effectively preventing her from talking.

Perhaps a physical gesture would do the trick and end this uncomfortable moment the two were sharing.

Seeing her extend her right hand out to latch onto his arm, Jayne took the opportunity and pushed her back with his clench. Once her feet started moving, he tilted his wrist, turning her body to move backwards against a wall. She slammed not-so-gently into it, and a lecherous half grin crossed his face when he heard her allow a startled gasp to escape her throat.

Feeling it reverberate to his hand, Jayne now himself was breathing more heavily.

River knew that to read his mind would warn her of the coming actions, but something within her went blank. There was an extreme sense of clarity that she could not remember experiencing since going to the Academy. It seemed that for the first time in almost five years, she was seeing only through her eyes. There was no extraneous visuals or sounds appearing within her head or externally, that she always had to judge on if they were a part of reality or not.

"And it's like sucking on pure oxygen...well…no…such an analogy is actually quite deadly…deadly…yes…" River mused to herself. That word was leading her down an alluring path.

Her mind was drifting on a linear track, and it sent flutters in her stomach and a small smile across her face.

And she almost forgot that Jayne was there, holding half of her face down and staring with salacious eyes at her.

"Hungry?" she said aloud. The word popped into her head and she wondered whether her mind was back to its old tricks.

Looking back at him with a worried appearance, she saw him nod in agreement.

And then he tilted his head slightly back as his hand softened its grip. At a lagging and lethargic pace, he moved it downwards, encircling her neck as his index finger pressed firmly onto her carotid artery. And then it began to drag ever slower, past her neck and stopping at her collar bone. For a moment he attempted to dig his fingers behind her clavicle, but immediately retracted those motions and ebbed his hand ever further. It was tracing the cleavage on her chest, and paused between her breasts.

In that moment, River stopped breathing. And she knew he must be able to feel the beating of her heart grow rampant and wild.

All sound seemed to disappear and time froze.

She took in two lung's full of air, pressing her chest against his hand.

Her body was becoming highly stimulated from this event, and she wondered why it seemed to always want to betray her around him. It was like her mind before the events of Miranda. Always doing things out of her control.

His eyes had been following his hand the entire time, but they snapped quickly back to hers. She could only look on with a mix of naivety and uncertainty. She knew that he was intrigued by her lack of resistance.

Jayne's hand was starting to move slowly to the right when the sound of footsteps shattered the stillness in the air. River's face twisted into an expression of pain, as the sharp thuds of two feet appeared to destroy the lack of all sound. She grimaced and Jayne pulled away. His hawkish countenance faded to blank as he pivoted his body away from hers and walked away.

She watched with a hint of displeasure as the mercenary opened the hatch to his bunk and climbed down. Turning to the side, she saw Mal coming through the galley and past her. Apparently, he hadn't seen a thing because he didn't so much as make eye contact with her.

The captain continued walking, stopped at his own bunk door, and entered, leaving River alone in the hall.

Sighing, she went into the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. One for the original parched feeling. The second for the newfound exhaustion.

- - -

The rest of the day onboard included River trying to stay out of the mercenary's sight. Something had changed in the way he looked at her, ever since she had told him that dirty story about Inara. And she wasn't sure if it was for better or worse.

When he was lifting weights in the cargo bay, River found the highest hidden compartment her very flexible and maneuverable body could reach from the hanging metal passages. She'd find a tight little nook and sink in, often having to shift a few times to get comfortable. Then she'd peek her head out, careful not to let her hair hang down, and watch him as he benched press.

She found it fascinating to examine his muscles as they tightened in a flex, and then relax into a fleshy and soft composition. Her mind worked out the rate at which his body would feel exhaustion for each separate type of reps he preformed. And she soon had a full grasp as to how much the man could exert himself.

When Jayne was fixing himself a standard half-assed protein meal in the kitchen, River was able to give herself enough time ahead of him to crawl under the table and deftly move around his feet as they crossed the floor. She'd flare her nostrils to take in the smells of his cooking. It might not have been an appetizing aroma, but it was Jayne. And quickly becoming enthralling.

When he was washing away the sweat and grime in the communal showers, River sneakily entered the adjoining stall and hitched herself with both her hands and feet flat against the sides of it, so that he couldn't catch a glimpse of her through the bottom slits.

Her ears listened to the lull of the water running down his body, and she took in the scents of his detergents. A standard soapy clean smell, but it was so enjoyable she allowed herself to breath if only for it.

But when it was time for supper, River tried to sit as far away from him as possible. She made it a point to never look at him, and if she had to, it would be nothing more than passing over to see the person next to him.

However, the girl couldn't help herself. She'd steal glances at him when she was positive there was no way he'd be looking back. She did this about ten times within one single conversation, and as statistics would point out, there was a growing chance he was going to see her doing this.

And he did. As the two finally locked eyes from across the table, River noted her vision becoming tunnel-like. All the other crew members blurred out of focus and Jayne's eyes seemed to sharpen in return.

She decided that she wouldn't back down this time. Nope, Jayne Cobb would have to be reminded that she was the insane and dangerous one, and he only played second fiddle to such a stark and obvious truth.

They continued looking at each other, until a loud and irritable interruption filled the air.

It was the proximity warning. Red flashing lights and moderately high pitched beeping over the COM line. Something was close in the area, which in the bleak vastness of space, usually meant they were meaning to.

All the crew members jumped out of their chairs and stood, exchanging curious glances and waiting for someone else to make a move.

River broke her stance and hurried off to the bridge. Kaylee jumped in behind her.

"Kaylee!" Mal called out, running in after them. "Need ya where ya belong. Case there's reason for us runnin'"

"Right," she said, before descending back towards the engine room.

River nearly jumped into the pilot's chair and sunk in. Clicking several switches, a screen to the left side of her lit up and the reading was coming in from the other ship.

And there was one glaring series of features that were assembled back into one compact but wholly terrifying word: Reavers.

River didn't have to say anything. She just turned her chair around to find the look of horror plastered on the captain's face.

"_Wo de ma…_" he stuttered.

"Wut?" Jayne asked, entering the room.

"Reavers," Zoe angrily remarked, moving to Mal's side. There was no end to the hate she felt towards such things. In fact, one could say fear was completely overrun with such revulsion.

"Ah, hell! Not again!" Jayne groaned, turning away to grab his weapons from out of his bunk.

"River," Mal said. "…Do you know what to do?"

"Power down our engines. Shut down the cortex and all available electricity to simulate drifting through space under the pretense that there are no accessible living persons on board."

"…Right. Zoe, time to get ready for round two if need be," Mal ordered. The two of them immediately left the room and River found herself alone again.

It was a matter of minutes before the two ships were going to narrowly cross paths, and River could see the approaching vessel through the front window. It was right about now that she pretended to be Wash and evade capture. 'Course, an analogy of the former pilot was also horribly inappropriate if one considered how he died.

Her eyes became locked on the Reaver ship, and she watched as two mechanical looking claws began to unfold and point towards their ship, reaching out as if an Alliance officer readying his handcuffs. She closed her eyes, hoping that it would as benign as the latter.

But her hopes went unanswered as she felt the ship jolt and rustle, a loud sounding _kerchunk!_ and subsequent sizzle of electricity rang through the canals of her ears. Releasing the grip of her eyelids holding shut, she looked about on the screens and buttons at the control panel, trying to figure out what had happened. But all the lights kept flashing on and off, in random intervals with no apparent reason. Then complete static.

Turn the cortex on, she instructed herself. Nothing. The COM line? Nothing.

She bolted out of her chair and stumbled into the oncoming charge of Mal and Zoe.

"What the hell was that?" Mal questioned.

"Grappling claws. We've been intercepted and an energy net has been deployed effectively shutting down our communications," River answered. Another hit throttled the ship and the three nearly lost their balance.

"Mal!" Jayne angrily called out from the cargo bay. They all rushed down towards the area.

Another booming sounded as the three descended the metal grated staircases, bringing them to the bay door. All the sounds were coming through from a single area.

Jayne was uneasily backing away from a small window on the airlock door.

"What is it?" Mal questioned.

"They're…breakin' through. Tryin' to breach the airlock!" Jayne said.

Mal ran over to where Jayne had been and watched on in dread. Sparks were lighting up the small room that separated their pressurized bay from the vacuum of space.

"Somethin's cuttin' a hole through. They'll penetrate the wall in about thirty seconds," Mal then turned towards the others. "River, gather Kaylee and Simon into Inara's shuttle. Jayne, I hope you got 'em grenades on ya."

"Of couse…" the mercenary replied, gripping one intently.

"How many ya think are on board?" Zoe calmly asked over the sound of River scurrying off.

"It's a mid-size ship. Could be upwards of thirty or more," Mal said, re-checking the guns he was carrying.

"_Cao…_" Jayne angrily seethed. "How come every ruttin' mission turns out like this? Reavers, Alliance, thugs…why us?"

"Jayne…" Mal calmly said while readying his gun.

"Don't ya find it ironical that this ship is called _Serenity_? I mean, after all the trouble we come across!" he continued.

"Jayne," the captain's voice was becoming sharper.

"Why dontcha jus git that crazy Reaver killer down here to sort this out?" he pestered.

"Jayne!" Mal shouted, as the sparks within the airlock stopped, signaling that their ship was going to be crawling with Reavers soon.

"River's got a job to do," Zoe decided to say since Mal wasn't. "She has to protect the crew, and we're protecting her from having to do that."

"That's right," Mal stated, still holding his gun in anticipation.

Jayne furiously brought Vera up, angry that he had to do the impossible and kill a ship full of Reavers while their former savoir was escaping the conflict.

Almost a complete minute passed before Mal edged his head in the direction of the other two.

Zoe glanced back, but determination and rage still gripped her emotions.

They persisted in waiting. Each of them standing with one foot slightly forward, their favorite gun drawn, with a solid gaze in the direction of their intruders' entrance.

"Aren't we 'sposed to be killin' now?" Jayne finally broke the silence.

Mal dropped his arm and turned to them. The mercenary had already allowed Vera down, but Zoe kept her gun drawn and ready. The captain walked over to her and set his hand down for her to lower her gun.

She shot him a stunned glance before stoicism washed over and she obeyed his command.

"I want you two to cover me while I check it out," Mal instructed.

They nodded and moved in from behind. Stepping forward, he opened the airlock and readied his .38 caliber.

What they found when the door fully opened shocked them all. There was nothing but a gaping hole that led down a dark tunnel to what they perceived to be the Reaver's ship.

Mal stepped forward and looked down it. Utter darkness.

- - - - - - -


End file.
